Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine have been used to relieve headaches and migraines and their underlying causes for thousands of years and is a widely accepted form of treatment for these conditions today.

Since the early seventies, studies around the globe have suggested that acupuncture is an effective treatment for migraines and headaches. Recent studies show extremely positive results: in a case study, doctors found that acupuncture resulted in the resolution or reduction in the frequency and severity of cluster headaches, and a decrease or discontinuation of medications. It was concluded that acupuncture can be used to provide sustained relief from cluster headaches and to stimulate adrenal cortisol to aid in discontinuing corticosteroids.

Neurological pain is one of the most difficult kinds of pain for people to tolerate. Nerve pain can arise from trauma, inflammation, stroke, disease, infection, nerve degeneration, and even exposure to toxic chemicals. However, often the origin of nerve pain is unknown, though it does tend to more often affect the older population. Some common kinds of nerve pain are: trigeminal neuralgia, sciatica and post shingles pain.

Fortunately, acupuncture used with electrical stimulation is very effective at relieving the pain and restoring normal function. It may take several treatments to achieve long lasting results but often patients feel better after the first treatment. In the case of a degenerative disease, complete relief may not be obtainable but the quality of life can be improved by reducing pain, increasing function and slowing the degenerative process.

Peripheral Neuropathy is a syndrome including symptoms of numbness, tingling, pricking sensations, sensitivity to touch, burning pain, and muscle weakness and atrophy of the arms and legs. In most cases, peripheral neuropathy is secondary to conditions including diabetes, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, alcoholism, nutritional deficiencies, AIDS, or poisoning from heavy metals, chemotherapy, or various drugs.

Traditional Chinese medicine teaches that peripheral neuropathy is due to dampness moving to the limbs, where it obstructs the flow of Qi (energy) and Blood within them. The treatment is twofold, to treat the underlying factor that is causing this dampness to accumulate and to directly facilitate the circulation of Qi and Blood in the affected area. By improving the circulation, the nerve tissues of the affected area can be nourished to repair the nerve functions and reduce pain.
Peripheral neuropathy is a symptom for many different patterns of disharmony within the body. Oriental Medicine aims to treat each individual uniquely depending on what caused the neuropathy and how it manifests.

Bell’s palsy is a form of facial paralysis resulting from damage to the VII (facial) cranial nerve. This nerve disorder afflicts approximately 40,000 Americans each year. Bell’s Palsy is the most common disease of the facial nerve. It is presumably due to an inflammatory reaction in or around the facial nerve near the stylomastoid foramen.

According to studies, acupuncture treatment often leads to significant clinical improvement. The prognosis for Bell’s palsy is generally very good. With an acupuncture treatment approach, most patients begin to get significantly better within 3-4 weeks, and about 80 percent recover completely within 3 months.